The present article revises the history of epibatidine, an alkaloid
which was isolated from the skin of Epipedobates tricolor, a frog found in jungles of Central and South America.
We present the discovery context, the structural elucidation and the pharmacological properties of this natural
product, which showed high analgesic potency and a new mechanism of action. The efforts to develop new analgesic
drugs from epibatidine as a lead compound are also described.